The next-generation Snapdragon 805 processor made a lot of noise in the market when chipmaker Qualcomm first announced it last September -- and it’s still making noise. The processor is entering into production and should appear in the next wave of devices, such as the Galaxy S5 Prime and the HTC One M8 Prime. The sheer speed could make this a smartphone favorite.

The 805 promises to deliver high-quality mobile video, imaging and graphics experiences at Ultra HD (4K) resolution, both on devices and via Ultra HD TVs. The processor features the new Adreno 420 GPU, with up to 40 percent more graphics processing power than its predecessor.

“Using a smartphone or tablet powered by Snapdragon 805 processor is like having an UltraHD home theater in your pocket, with 4K video, imaging and graphics, all built for mobile,” said Murthy Renduchintala, executive vice president of Qualcomm Technologies Inc., and co-president of QCT. “We’re delivering the mobile industry’s first truly end-to-end Ultra HD solution, and coupled with our industry leading Gobi LTE modems and RF transceivers, streaming and watching content at 4K resolution will finally be possible.”

Faster, Better, Smarter

We caught up with Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT, to get his take on the hype around the Snapdragon 805 processors. He told us, first off, that there is indeed a 4K revolution of sorts that’s bringing higher -- and higher -- graphics resolution to smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices.

That, in turn, he said, is driving innovative efforts across a wide array of media and gaming platforms, products and services.

“Qualcomm has long been at the forefront of these developments and the new 805 processor looks like a significant leap forward, delivering up to 20 percent lower power consumption and up to 40 percent higher performance than the previous generation Snapdragon 800 processors,” King said. “Those substantial improvements are likely to make Snapdragon the platform to beat -- or chase -- in many 4K applications.”

The processor offers Krait 450 quad-core CPU, the first mobile CPU to run at speeds of up to 2.5 GHz per core, along with memory bandwidth support of up to 25.6 GB per second that is designed to provide unprecedented multimedia and Web browsing performance.

Additionally, the chip offers custom integration with either the Qualcomm Gobi MDM9x25 or the Gobi MDM9x35 modem. Announced in February, Qualcomm reports the Gobi MDM9x25 chipset has seen significant adoption as the first embedded, mobile computing solution to support LTE carrier aggregation and LTE Category 4 with peak data rates of up to 150Mbps.

Qualcomm is also promising the first Gpixel/s throughput camera support in a mobile processor designed for faster camera speed and better imaging quality. Sensor processing with gyro integration makes possible image stabilization for sharper, crisper photos, the company said.